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We Are Scientists music review
We Are Scientists music review

We Are Scientists music review

We Are Scientists laid out their sonic territory early and, bless ’em, they’ve stuck to it

Barbara
4/5

We Are Scientists laid out their sonic territory early and, bless ’em, they’ve stuck to it. While other bands abandoned herky-jerky riffs and disco rhythms after 2004/05’s too-brief summer of punk-funk, the NYC duo have stayed the course. Of course, it helps that guitarist/singer Chris Cain and bassist/singer Keith Murray write damned catchy songs – ‘Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt’, ‘Chick Lit’, ‘After Hours’, ‘It’s a Hit’ – and that they are quite simply astonishing live.

Barbara doesn’t fix what ain’t broke: the drum stool for this album is filled by former Razorlight skin-thumper Andy Burrows and he maintains the propulsive, danceable approach of the departed Michael Tapper. The single word that applies most to Barbara is ‘energy’: even the slower songs crackle with it, like the brooding ‘Pittsburgh’ and ‘Foreign Kicks’ (the closest thing to a ballad here), and at a lean 10 songs the album doesn’t outstay its welcome. If only they were playing Dubai; the propulsive ‘You Should Learn’ should destroy concert halls live, and it’s not hard to imagine audiences bellowing the ‘If you’re the nice guy/Act like the nice guy’ hook of ‘Nice Guys’ back at the band. In short, Barbara is just a great, great pop record.
Available now online.